Woman photographed riding a manatee in Florida is arrested

[ScarredLungs]

I never thought that this was a crime.

A St. Petersburg, Fla., woman was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant Saturday after being photographed two months ago riding a manatee.

Florida's Manatee Sanctuary Act protects the endangered sea mammal and says in part, “It is unlawful for any person at any time, by any means, or in any manner intentionally or negligently to annoy, molest, harass, or disturb or attempt to molest, harass, or disturb any manatee.”

Ana Gloria Garcia Gutierrez, 53, was taken into custody without incident at a Sears department store where she works, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

The incident first came to the public's attention when Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a news conference on Oct. 2 and asked for help in identifying the woman photographed riding the manatee at nearby Fort De Soto Park in late September.

Gutierrez has admitted touching the endangered sea mammal, the sheriff's office said. She told deputies that she was new to the area at the time and didn't know it was illegal to touch a manatee. The manatee was not hurt.

[Steve]

Tax dollars at work.

It's lucky for all of us they got this dangerous criminal off the streets.

[Col. Zombie]

Yeah, that whole gig is crazy. When I lived in Florida, my wife and I went to a river where you could swim with Manatees.

We actually had to watch a video about proper and legal decorum when encountering a manatee, before going into the river.

They had this little section of the river, where groups of manitee would congregate, roped off with a game warden keeping a close eye. This woman was reaching under the rope to pet one when the game warden screamed, "Mam, if you reach under that rope again, I will write you a $125,000 ticket!" I kid you not.

[Elandyll]

Dr. Katz: Jim Gaffigan's Manatee - YouTube

[ScarredLungs]

Originally Posted by Col. Zombie

Yeah, that whole gig is crazy. When I lived in Florida, my wife and I went to a river where you could swim with Manatees.

We actually had to watch a video about proper and legal decorum when encountering a manatee, before going into the river.

They had this little section of the river, where groups of manitee would congregate, roped off with a game warden keeping a close eye. This woman was reaching under the rope to pet one when the game warden screamed, "Mam, if you reach under that rope again, I will write you a $125,000 ticket!" I kid you not.

That is ridiculousness.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by cvm

That is ridiculousness.

Not so much. Many animals can actually get serious deceases from us from which they have no defenses. In a case like the manatee which is already is a dangerous low population situation, a pandemic on their population could become real serious. Low population mean's less partners for reproduction, mean's less new blood for the next generation, mean better chances for serious health issues, mean's increase chances of one less animal population on the planet. But us humans are on a roll with killing off species at a much faster rate then any other disaster in the planet history, we should just keep it up.